(Photo credit: Esther Lin) By Shane Newsome: A return to my weekly column as yet another packed week end unfolds before us and a return to the true Marmite man of boxing, love him of hate him everyone has an opinion of ‘pretty boy’ Floyd ‘money’ Mayweather.
Also in action in yet another busy weekend for boxing fans are WBA/WBO/IBF/IBO Heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and WBC Featherweight champion Daniel Ponce De Leon in defenses of their titles.
And where else to start this weeks preview but in the modern day Mecca of boxing the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA and the fight that has everyone talking yet again unbeaten WBC Welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (43-0) and Robert Guerrero (31-1-1).
In true Floyd Mayweather fashion he has made a fight that he himself may think is a walk in the park look as if it is a true 50/50 bout with real bad blood between the two fighters who barely know each other. Making money is probably the only talent Floyd has that betters his boxing skills and unlike them it only gets better with age.
Saying that I personally do see Guerrero with his rough style making this one of the hardest fights in Mayweather’s career, but ultimately though I don’t see Guerrero doing enough and Floyd will walk away with another win on his record here via the way of a unanimous decision in Floyd’s adopted hometown of Las Vegas.
Also on this card we have fight perhaps deserved of its own main event slot, a WBC Featherweight title defense for Daniel Ponce De Leon (44-4) against Golden Boy favorite Abner Mares (25-0-1). Again a fight that has been billed to be closer than it actually should be.
I give Ponce De Leon a punchers chance in this fight as it would be stupid to discount a fighter who has power at the weight, but if he can’t get Mares out of there, which I don’t think he will, then Mares should dominate him here and walk away a the wide unanimous decision victor.
The only other fight of note see’s unbeaten American Middleweight hope J’Leon Love (15-0) take on the tough career light middleweight Gabriel Rosado (21-6). In the only two times Rosado has stepped up and fought a true middleweight, he has lost including his last fight against WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin where Rosado was stopped in the 7th. I see this fight going very much the same way as the naturally heavier fighter here Love wears down his man before stopping him late maybe as late as the 12th.
A quick diversion to Cosmopolitan Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA and a Friday night fight between unbeaten American super-middleweight contender Anthony Dirrell (24-0) and much unheard of middleweight fighter Don Mouton (12-6-1). Here we have a fight I personally feel should not have been made. In the curious case of the Dirrell brothers, we see yet again one of them taking a further step back in his career. Although it is just a comeback fight for Anthony after a motorcycle crash last year, you would have liked to seen him put in with someone who has the slightest chance here. Sadly I see this being a very one way fight and if this is how the Dirrell brothers plan on getting back to the top of the division then you can expect to see them competing for titles early 2017.
Now back to the action and to SAP-Arena, Mannheim, Germany where WBA/WBO/IBF/IBO Heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (59-3) will defend his titles against unbeaten German based Italian Francesco Pianeta (28-0-1). Providing we don’t get any major shocks, we should see the Ukrainian World champion secure the 60th win of an illustrious career and hand the 28 year-old Italian his first loss in his first serious bout. I see this one ending in the middle rounds as Wladimir likes to toy with his victims before getting them out of there but a KO win for the younger Klitschko is where the smart money is.
The other fight on this card worthy a look at is another heavyweight bout between unbeaten Irish based Cuban Mike Perez (18-0) and American Travis Walker (39-9-1). During the last installment of Matchroom’s heavyweight prizefighter, we saw the beginning of an end for the 33 year old American Walker’s career as he looked sluggish over 3 rounds, bowing out in his first fight after previously being made betting favorite before a punch had been thrown. Here I see the younger hungrier Cuban finishing off what fellow American Derric Rossy started, the bout is scheduled for 10 rounds, though I cant see it lasting that long look for Perez to end it early here and perhaps the end of a competitive career for Walker which has seen him fight some of the best.
And with that we end this weeks preview. Thank you for reading. Have a good week and enjoy the boxing. I’ll be back next week with two more title bouts.
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